"Bayleef!"
Walking out of a forest once again, Bayleef, who was carrying Molly on her back, suddenly yelled out with joy.
In front of the huge grasslands in front of Ash and his party, a large number of Grass type Pokémon appeared, including Oddish, Gloom, Sunflora, Bellsprout, and Weepinbell.
…
There seem to be a lot of Grass type Pokémon around here, and the environment here is indeed very suitable for their growth.
"Oh my God, it's Bayleef. That's so awesome. I'm meeting a Bayleef!" A boy's surprised voice came from not far behind him.
The boy is also holding a Skiploom in his arms, which is the evolved form of Hoppip they saw before.
It evolved into a green body with yellow flowers on its head.
"Hello, my name is Ephraim!"
He then continued, "Excuse me, are you going to Ecruteak City?"
"Hello, my name is Ash, this is Misty, he is Brock, this is Molly, and these are my partners, Pikachu and Bayleef!" Ash introduced themselves, "And yes, we are going to Ecruteak City for my Gym Challenge."
"Ash, you must be a very powerful Trainer!"
There was earnestness and a sort of pleading in his eyes, "Please, please use your Bayleef to have a battle with my Skiploom!"
"Of course, I will never refuse a request for a battle!" Ash smiled happily.
In a friendly match, there is no need for a referee, and the Pokémon from both sides are already outside their Poké Ball.
"Go on Bayleef!" Molly's cheered at the beginning of this battle for Bayleef!
"Skiploom, use Tackle!" Ephraim order was a quick one, and Skiplooms reaction was also quick, but when Skiploom hit Bayleef, instead of she getting knocked away, Skiploom knocked himself out.
"Ephraim, Skiploom's weight is too light, so your Skiplooms Tackle attack cannot hurt my Bayleef by much! Take a good look at your opponents situation and their Pokémon, compare your strengths and weaknesses to them, and then make a judgment about them!" Ash is teaching Ephraim, who is his opponent.
Seeing this, Brock and Misty looked at each other and smiled, "Ash now also has rich fighting experience, he is no longer the ignorant boy that we saw at the beginning!"
Ephraim quickly understood what Ash was telling him, "Ash, thank you! Skiploom, use Double Team!"
Dozens of Skiplooms surrounded Bayleef, and it was obvious from this that this move was often practiced by them. But Ash has experienced too many of such scenes in his journey!
Not even his Bayleef panicked at this, she just lowered her figure slightly, ready to attack at any time!
"Did you know that there is a skill that is guaranteed to hit?" Ash smiled confidently, Bayleef had already made a move!
"Magical Leaf!"
The energy of the Grass type turned into green floating leaves, sweeping away all the Double Team, and then knocked away the real Skiploom!
"Now, Body Slam!"
Bayleef's huge figure rushed towards Skiploom, raised her body and fell hard on Skiploom.
"That's it!"
With a bang, Bayleef's foot stepped on the empty space, and the victor was decided.
"Ash's tactics are becoming more and more mature. As he said just now, he has given full play to Bayleef's advantages, and his use of the connections between various skills are superb!" Brock made a point about Ash's battles, he got a very high rating from the Ex Gym Leader.
'He is getting stronger and stronger right infront of my eyes!' Brock though with a smile on his face and his eyes opening a little.
At the end of the battle, they are just friends who want to test each other.
Ash and his party followed Ephraim back home. This was a warm home in the middle of a sea of flowers.
"I see, you and Skiploom have worked very hard!" After hearing what happened in the battle just now, Ephraim's father immediately affirmed his sons fight.
Ephraim was not frustrated or angry about this, he just accepted his weakness, "I have fought with all my strength, but Ash and his Bayleef is really strong!"
"Also, thanks to Ash, I learned a lot about our weakness!"
Ephraim's father also thanked Ash and said, "Thank you. An excellent trainer like you is willing to practice with my son. It really taught him a valuable lesson! If you would like, you guys could stay with us tonight."
Being able to stay overnight was certainly much better than sleeping in the wild. It was difficult to refuse such hospitality, so Ash and his party were not polite about it and quickly agreed.
"Big Brother, the flowers here are so beautiful!" Molly loves the sea of flowers here. She was quite literally raised in one of the most beautiful fields in the world full of beautiful flowers, so she had a huge liking for them in her heart.
"Those flowers were grown by our family and the Grass type Pokémon present in the fields!" Ephraim's family believes that the Grass Pokémon understands the mood of flowers and plants the best.
"Not only that, Grass type Pokémon are also very powerful in battle!" Ephraim said, and he was excited to participate in the local Grass Pokémon Tournament that was going to happen soon!
This is a small local tournament, similar to the Bug Catching Contest, etc. The winner will also receive generous prizes.
The competition is on the next day, which they were very LUCKY to be present here for. Since they have come just at the right moment, there is no reason not to participate. Plus, it's time for Bayleef to evolve. If they could find a good challenge here, they could initiate the Evolution process! After her Evolution, she will bloom into a very beautiful flower!
…
"I've kept everyone waiting for a long time, I deeply appreciate your patience. Now, our town's annual Grass Pokémon Tournament is finally about to begin! So get excited!!"
Ash just stayed in the waiting area, looking at all the Grass type Pokémon present around him, including Victreebel, Parasect, Vileplume, etc., and they all seemed to be well prepared by their Trainer for this.
Since this town holds such a tournament every year, everyone should be good at using Grass type Pokémon.
"Brother, that Sunflora looks very weird and unnatural!" Molly liked to stick with Ash most of the time. She pointed at a Sunflora not far away and wondered about it.
It really looked weird. Ash didn't even need to use his Aura power to check what it was. Well, it was those 3 morons who asked Meowth to dress up as Sunflora to compete. What a great idea!
Noticing Ash looking at them, Jessie and Meowth quickly turned around. Now that the little brat is getting stronger and stronger, they have no chance to attack. What should they do in this situation other than just watch on?
Ash didn't bother to care about their shenanigans, as they were the ones who were disqualified earlier than others from the competition because of PLOT.
"Contestant Ash Ketchum, your turn is about to come!" The staff came to find Ash to tell him his battle number.
"Big Brother, come on! Come on, Bayleef!"
"The next battle will be of contestant Ash!"
"Contestant Ash has achieved good results in the qualifying rounds. This time, we don't know what kind of performance he will bring to everyone!"
There is also a commentator in this competition.
With this introduction, Ash quickly became the focus of attention, everyone is paying attention to his battle.
"Go, Gloom, use the Petal Dance!" After the command from the opposite side was given, Gloom began to spin and dance on the spot, and then petals flew down from his body.
"Sweet Scent!"
As the petals danced, the sweet smell also went off, and Gloom's movements slowed down significantly.
"Body Slam!"
Bayleef took the opportunity to step on Gloom multiple times.
"Gloom has lost the ability to fight! Contestent Ash is really giving us a show to watch." Even the commentator was a little stunned. It took him a few seconds just to react and he quickly started to praise Ash loudly.
For a time, the atmosphere of the entire tournament became heated.